Ellenberger Routs Shields at UFC Fight Night 25

Ellenberger (25-5, 5-1 UFC) cracked the former Strikeforce
middleweight champion with a ringing right knee from the clinch and
swarmed on him with a series of brutal left hands for the finish in
the UFC Fight
Night 25 headliner on Saturday at the Ernest N. Morial
Convention Center in New Orleans. It was over in less than a minute
-- 53 seconds to be exact.

“I can’t explain how I feel right now,” said Ellenberger, now
clearly established as one of the world’s premier welterweights. “I
gotta thank my team, my coaches. I’m surrounded by amazing
people.”

Shields (26-6-1, 1-2 UFC) was never a factor in the fight, as
Ellenberger shrugged off an attempted takedown and went to work. He
snatched the Thai plum, landed a knee to the midsection and then
delivered the knee to the head that sent Shields to all fours. Left
hands landed with blinding speed, as Ellenberger did not afford
Shields the chance to recover. It was the first time in more than
11 years that the Cesar
Gracie protégé had been finished.

“I was still trying to fight,” Shields said. “He did hit me good.
The referee thought it was time to stop it.”

McGee Decisions Yang, Wins Eighth
Straight

Supreme cardiovascular conditioning carried “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 11 winner Court McGee
to his eighth consecutive victory, as he defeated
Korean Top Team representative Dongi Yang by
unanimous decision in the co-main event. All three judges scored it
for McGee (14-1, 3-0 UFC): 30-27, 29-28 and 30-28.

McGee was the aggressor throughout the middleweight matchup, as he
backed up the South Korean with straight punches and the occasional
right hook. Yang (10-2, 1-2 UFC) rattled the Layton, Utah, native
with a left hook in the third round and followed up with a flying
knee, but McGee’s indomitable spirit took over.

McGee turned to takedowns against the fading Sengoku Raiden
Championship veteran, scoring two of them inside the final 70
seconds. He moved to mount with time winding down, locked up a
tight guillotine choke from the top and nearly finished it. In
visible distress, Yang did not tap. Only the bell saved him.

Brookins (12-4, 1-1 UFC) engaged in a smart tactical fight, as he
forced Koch into numerous tie-ups and short-circuited his standup
through vast stretches of the match. Koch, however, maintained a
standing base, made Brookins work for the positions he secured
against the cage and unleashed crisp combinations when the two
separated. Jabs, low kicks and straight lefts were his most trusted
weapons, as the 22-year-old
Roufusport product posted his fourth win in as many
appearances.

Belcher Overwhelms MacDonald for
TKO

In his first appearance since undergoing two surgeries for a
detached retina more than a year ago, Alan
Belcher stopped well-traveled Canadian veteran Jason
MacDonald with first-round ground-and-pound in a middleweight
showcase. MacDonald (25-15, 5-7 UFC) met his end 3:48 into round
one.

Belcher (17-6, 8-4 UFC) pressed MacDonald into a clinch against the
cage and stuffed repeated takedown attempts, forcing his foe to
pull guard in a desperate attempt to move the fight to the mat.
Once there, Belcher compromised the MacDonald defense with heavy
punches and elbows from top position, the impact of the strikes
increasing with each volley. MacDonald tried unsuccessfully to
cover up and ultimately turned away from the blows, forcing referee
Dan Miragliotta to intervene on his behalf.